Moderna Jumps 6% as 137% Month Extends on Melanoma Vaccine Data

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Moderna climbed 6% to $154 in morning trading, extending a 137% one-month rally driven by its Phase 2b adjuvant melanoma data showing intismeran autogene plus KEYTRUDA cut the risk of recurrence or death by 49% versus KEYTRUDA alone. No new Moderna announcement, filing, analyst action or trial result landed Thursday to explain the move, and the broader tape offered little help: the iShares Biotechnology ETF rose 1% to $204.5 and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust rose 1% to $763.49. BioNTech, which runs a rival individualized messenger RNA cancer vaccine program with Genentech, edged up just 1% to $97.00, a muted response that suggests the market is paying for Moderna's specific asset rather than the messenger RNA cancer vaccine category as a whole; BioNTech chief medical officer Özlem Türeci has said the company sees no read-through between melanoma and colorectal cancer. Novavax, a vaccine-sector name but not a participant in the messenger RNA cancer vaccine program, rose 2% to $9.5 on what reads as group beta. Merck is Moderna's partner on the individualized neoantigen program, which now spans nine Phase 2/3 trials across melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder and renal cell carcinoma, and Moderna has guided to an interim analysis from its Phase 3 adjuvant melanoma trial in the second half of 2026, with management saying it is highly confident the interim will be conducted this year. For 2026, Moderna guided to up to 10% revenue growth and year-end cash of $4.7 billion to $5.2 billion, and chief executive Stéphane Bancel has described oncology as a key focus for the second half of 2026; the full dataset from the August readout has not yet been presented publicly, with the oncology congress in Madrid in late October the next scheduled opportunity.